Chalillo case opens in Supreme Court

The legal battles surrounding the Chalillo dam continued today as the second judicial review sought by the environmental group BACONGO got underway in the Supreme Court. This afternoon, BACONGO attorney Lois Young Barrow appeared before Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh to present an overview of the laws governing the approval of environmental impact assessment plans by the Department of the Environment and the National Environmental Appraisal Committee. Young-Barrow emphasised the importance of public consultations, a point expected to be of major significance in the course of the trial. Attorney Dean Barrow joins Young-Barrow in representing BACONGO, while Denys Barrow and Elson Kaseke are arguing the government’s case. Michael Young is representing BECOL; another respondent named in the lawsuit initiated by BACONGO. The environmental group was granted judicial review in February of this year to question whether NEAC complied with the governing statutory instruments when it granted environmental clearance to the Chalillo project. The court will also decide whether such a decision was actually made by NEAC and if so, whether that ruling is reviewable by the court. The case continues in the Supreme Court Tuesday morning.